Docked cooling control for a handheld information handling system

ABSTRACT

An information handling system includes a storage that stores a thermal table associated with the information handling system. A processor detects that the information handling system is connected to a dock. In response to the information handling system being connected to the dock, the processor provides a dock temperature request to the dock. The processor receives a first temperature value for the dock, and receives a second temperature value for the information handling system. The processor retrieves thermal table data from the thermal table. The processor generates a first fan control signal based on the first and second temperature values and the thermal table data, and provides the first fan control signal to the dock.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to information handlingsystems, and more particularly relates to docked cooling control for ahandheld information handling system.

BACKGROUND

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option is an information handling system. An information handlingsystem generally processes, compiles, stores, or communicatesinformation or data for business, personal, or other purposes.Technology and information handling needs and requirements can varybetween different applications. Thus information handling systems canalso vary regarding what information is handled, how the information ishandled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, andhow quickly and efficiently the information can be processed, stored, orcommunicated. The variations in information handling systems allowinformation handling systems to be general or configured for a specificuser or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airlinereservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. Inaddition, information handling systems can include a variety of hardwareand software resources that can be configured to process, store, andcommunicate information and can include one or more computer systems,graphics interface systems, data storage systems, networking systems,and mobile communication systems. Information handling systems can alsoimplement various virtualized architectures. Data and voicecommunications among information handling systems may be via networksthat are wired, wireless, or some combination.

SUMMARY

An information handling system may include a storage that stores athermal table associated with the information handling system. Aprocessor may communicate with the storage. The processor may detectthat the information handling system is connected to a dock. In responseto the information handling system being connected to the dock, theprocessor may provide a dock temperature request to the dock. Theprocessor may receive a first temperature value for the dock, andreceive a second temperature value for the information handling system.The processor may retrieve thermal table data from the thermal table.The processor may generate a first fan control signal based on the firstand second temperature values and the thermal table data, and providethe first fan control signal to the dock.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,elements illustrated in the Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.For example, the dimensions of some elements may be exaggerated relativeto other elements. Embodiments incorporating teachings of the presentdisclosure are shown and described with respect to the drawings herein,in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information handling system in physicalcommunication with a dock according to at least one embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of different components of the informationhandling system and the dock according to at least one embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method for controlling cooling of a dockedhandheld information handling system according to at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for generating cooling fan signalsfor the docked handheld information handling system according to atleast one embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a general information handling systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description in combination with the Figures is provided toassist in understanding the teachings disclosed herein. The descriptionis focused on specific implementations and embodiments of the teachings,and is provided to assist in describing the teachings. This focus shouldnot be interpreted as a limitation on the scope or applicability of theteachings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 including an information handling system102 in physical communication with a dock 104 according to at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure. Information handling system 102includes a fan 112, a processor 110, and multiple other components notillustrated in FIG. 1 including, but not limited to, the componentsillustrated in FIG. 2 . Dock 104 includes a fan 120 and multiple othercomponents not illustrated in FIG. 1 including, but not limited to, thecomponents illustrated in FIG. 2 . Information handling system 102 maybe any suitable device, such as a handheld gaming device or the like. Incertain examples, information handling system 102 may include anysuitable number of cooling fans greater than the single fan 112illustrated in FIG. 1 without varying from the scope of this disclosure.Similarly, dock 104 may include any suitable number of cooling fansgreater than the single fan 120 illustrated in FIG. 1 without varyingfrom the scope of this disclosure.

In an example, a thermal design power (TDP) of processor 110 ofinformation handling system 102 may be set to different values based onone or more conditions for the information handling system. In certainexamples, the possible conditions may include, but are not limited to,information handling system 102 being in a direct current (DC) mode, theinformation handling system being an alternating current (AC) mode, andthe information handling system being docked with dock 104. In anexample, the TDP for processor 110 may be any suitable value, such as 20W when information handling system 102 is in the DC mode, 28 W when theinformation handling system is in the AC mode, 45 W when the informationhandling system is docked with dock 104, or the like. One of ordinaryskill in the art would recognize that the TDP values stated above arenon-limiting examples, and the TDP values for processor 110 may be anyother suitable value without varying from the scope of this disclosure.

In certain examples, processor 110 of information handling system 102may execute an application that is capable of drawing a full amount ofpower allowed by the TDP of the processor. However, if processor 110executes this application on a sustained basis, internal fan 112 may notbe capable of delivering enough airflow to meet thermal specificationsfor the processor at an acceptable acoustic level. In this example, fan120 in dock 104 may be designed and positioned to deliver the additionalcooling to CPU 110 when information handling system 102 is docked withthe dock, such as via a docked mode. In an example, information handlingsystem 102 may be improved by thermal controls to provide additionalcooling capacity to processor 110 while the processor is operating atfull power and the information handling system is docked with dock 104as will be described herein.

In previous systems, a cooling fan in a dock to support additionalcooling of components within a docked information handling system mayoperate in one of two possible modes. For example, the cooling fan inthe dock may run at a maximum rotations per minute (RPM) to ensure thatcomponents in the information handling system are receiving neededcooling, or a user of the docked information handling system maymanually adjust the RPM setting of the cooling fan in the dock to meet aparticular preference of the user. The user manual control of thecooling fan or running the fan at a maximum RPM may be either too muchof a distraction or introduce an increased acoustic impact.

Information handling system 102 and dock 104 may be improved by one ormore components of the information handling system directly controllingthe RPMs of cooling fan 104 in the dock, such that proper coolingairflow may be provided to the information handling system while theacoustics of the cooling fan are kept as low as possible as will bedescribed herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates information handling system 102 and dock 104 ofsystem 100 according to at least one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 2 , information handling system 102includes an embedded controller 202, a storage 204, a power deliveryport 206, one or more thermal sensors 208, a fan controller 210,processor 110, and cooling fan 112. In an example, storage 204 may beany suitable storage including, but not limited to, a non-volatilememory. In certain examples, storage 204 may be separate from embeddedcontroller 202, as shown in FIG. 2 , or may be incorporated within theembedded controller without varying from the scope of this disclosure.Dock 104 includes a processor 220, such as a microcontroller unit, apower delivery port 222, one or more thermal sensors 224, and fan 120.In certain examples, information handling system 102 may include anysuitable number of thermal sensors 208, and the thermal sensors may belocated at different locations with the information handling system.Similarly, dock 104 may include any suitable number of thermal sensors224, and the thermal sensors may be located at different locations withthe dock.

When docked and in a docked mode, information handling system 102 may beelectronically connected to dock 104 via a cable 230, and the cable maybe connected to power delivery port 206 and power delivery port 222. Inan example, cable 230 may be any suitable type of cable, such as auniversal serial bus (USB) type-C cable. In this example, power deliveryports 206 and 222 may be USB type-C ports. In certain examples, powerdelivery ports 206 and 222 may provide a single connection betweeninformation handling system 102 and dock 104, such that a small/flexibleform-factor may be utilized between the information handling system andthe dock. In this example, embedded controller 202 may leverage vendordefined message (VDM) messaging on cable 230 as a unique and efficienttransport layer to communicate with processor 220 that may be in controlof fan 120 in dock 104. The VDMs provided by embedded controller 202 maybe transmitted over any suitable communication line of cable 230including, but not limited to, a CC line of USB type-C connectors. In anexample, the CC line may be a super speed USB signal pin of powerdelivery ports 206 and 222. The VDMs may include thermal control signalsthat are provided via bidirectional communications. Additionally, thecommunication between embedded controller 202 and processor 220 may beprovided in a closed loop communication to enable thermal tables 210 tocreate more efficient thermal controls.

When information handling system 102 is undocked, embedded controller202 may utilize only fan 112 to cool processor 110 based on settings inthermal table 210 and the TDP of the processor. In an example, if athermal trigger event set within thermal table 210 is detected, embeddedcontrol 202 may throttle processor 110 in any suitable manner. Forexample, embedded controller may reduce or throttle processor 110 from afirst power level to a second power level, and based on this reductionin the power level a CPU/GPU performance may also be reduced. In anexample, the performance reduction may result in a reduced gamingexperience.

In an example, embedded controller 202 may actively control an amount ofcooling delivered by fan 120 of dock 104. Based on the additionalairflow from fan 120, embedded controller 202 may utilize fan controller210 to set a fan speed to control fan 112 to run at a lower RPM and thecombination of airflows may provide sufficient cooling to processor 110.Thus, the combination of airflow from fan 112 and airflow from fan 120may enable processor 110 to deliver higher performance at the same fanacoustic level. In an example, the combination of airflow from fan 112and airflow from fan 120 may also improve acoustics of informationhandling system 102 and dock 104 while enabling processor 110 to executeat the same performance level. In this example, processor 110 executingat this same performance with lower fan acoustics may be possiblebecause fans 112 and 120 may each run at a lower RPM and deliver thesame amount of cooling airflow as compared to fan 112 in a stand alonemode. Additionally, embedded controller 202 may allow a customized userselected blend or tradeoff between performance of processor 110 and fanacoustic levels of fans 112 and 120 as set in thermal table 210.

In certain examples, embedded controller 202 may execute any suitablethermal control algorithms to leverage a thermalinfrastructure/framework within information handling system 102. In anexample, embedded controller 202 may utilize thermal sensors 208 and 224to drive fan 120 in dock 104 based on data in thermal table 210. Incertain examples, data from thermal sensors 224 may be made available toembedded controller 202 for use with data in thermal table 210. However,if dock 104 does not include thermal sensors 224, embedded controllermay drive fan 120 based on data from thermal sensors 208 and thermaltable 210. In an example, data from thermal sensors 224 and othercontrol points of dock 104 may be provided to a firmware handler ofembedded controller 202 via the abstraction allowed through the VDMlayer of cable 230. In certain examples, embedded controller 202 mayalso utilize any other thermal control components available ininformation handling system 102 and dock 104, as well a thermalgraphical user interface (GUI) without varying from the scope of thisdisclosure.

Thus, embedded controller 202 may utilize an active closed-loop controlof fan 120 in dock 104 to improve performance of processor 110 andacoustics of fans 112 and 120 when information handling system 102 isdocked with the dock. For example, embedded controller 202 may enableprocessor 110 to have a higher performance with only a necessary amountof RPM/acoustics needed in fans 112 and 120 rather than running fan 120of dock 104 at a maximum speed all the time.

FIG. 3 shows a method 300 for controlling cooling of a docked handheldinformation handling system, such as information handling system 102,according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. It willbe readily appreciated that not every method step set forth in this flowdiagram is always necessary, and that certain steps of the methods maybe combined, performed simultaneously, in a different order, or perhapsomitted, without varying from the scope of the disclosure. The steps oroperations of method 300 may be performed by any suitable components,such as embedded controller 202 and power delivery port 206 ofinformation handling system 102, and power delivery port 222, processor220, thermal sensors 224, and fan 120 of dock 104.

At operation 310, embedded controller 202 may provide a get temperaturerequest to power delivery port 206. In an example, the get temperaturerequest may be provided from embedded controller 202 to power deliveryport 206 via any suitable protocol, such as a VDM message over an I2Ccommunication protocol. At operation 312, power delivery port 206 mayprovide the get temperature request to power delivery port 222 of dock104. For example, power delivery port 206 may provide the request as aVDM message over the CC line of a USB type-C connection between powerdelivery ports 206 and 222.

At operation 314, power delivery port 222 may provide the gettemperature request to processor 220. In an example, the get temperaturerequest may be provided from power delivery port 222 to processor 220via any suitable protocol, such as a VDM message over an I2Ccommunication protocol. At operation 316, processor 220 may provide theget temperature request to thermal sensors 224.

In response to the get temperature request, thermal sensors 224 mayprovide temperature data to processor 220 at operation 318. At operation320, processor 220 may process the temperature data from one or moretemperature sensors 224 in dock 104 to create a temperature readingsignal. At operation 322, processor 220 may provide the temperaturereading to power delivery port 222. In an example, the temperaturereading may be provided from processor 220 to power delivery port 222via any suitable protocol, such as a VDM message over an I2Ccommunication protocol.

At operation 324, power delivery port 222 may provide the temperaturereading to power delivery port 206 via a VDM message over the CC line ofa USB type-C connection between the power delivery ports. At operation326, the temperature reading may be provided from power delivery port206 to embedded controller 202. At operation 327, embedded controller202 may communicate with temperature sensors within information handlingsystem 102 to receive temperature values for different locations withinthe information handling system, such as temperature values nearprocessor 110 and near fan 112 of FIGS. 1 and 2 , and any other suitablelocation within information handling system 102. In certain examples,operation 327 may be performed at any suitable point within method 300,such as after operation 326, substantially in parallel with operations310-326, or the like.

At operation 328, embedded controller 202 may execute one or moreadditional operations to generate a fan control signal for fan 120 indock 104 as will be described in detail with respect to FIG. 3 . Atoperation 330, the fan control signal is provided from embeddedcontroller 202 to power delivery port 206. In an example, the fancontrol signal may be provided from embedded controller 202 to powerdelivery port 206 via any suitable protocol, such as a VDM message overan I2C communication protocol. At operation 332, power delivery port 206may provide the fan control signal to power delivery port 222 of dock104. For example, power delivery port 206 may provide the signal as aVDM message over the CC line of a USB type-C connection between powerdelivery ports 206 and 222.

At operation 334, power delivery port 222 may provide the fan controlsignal to processor 220. At operation 336, processor 220 may provide thefan control signal to one or more fans 120 via any suitable protocol,such as a VDM message over an I2C communication protocol. In certainexamples, one or more fans 120 may operate according to the fan controlsignal. For example, the fan control signal may be utilized to set a PWMsignal for fan 120, which in turn may control the additional airflowprovided to information handling system 102.

In certain examples, the communications between embedded controller 202and processor 220 may be made via bidirectional VDM messaging over theUSB-C interface to carry thermal/fan information, which in turn mayallow embedded controller 202 to remotely control the amount of coolingfan 120 of dock 104 delivers to information handling system 102.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method 400 for generating cooling fan signals forthe docked handheld information handling system according to at leastone embodiment of the present disclosure, starting at block 402. In anexample, the method 400 may be substantially equal to the operations 328of FIG. 3 . It will be readily appreciated that not every method stepset forth in this flow diagram is always necessary, and that certainsteps of the methods may be combined, performed simultaneously, in adifferent order, or perhaps omitted, without varying from the scope ofthe disclosure.

At block 404, temperature values may be retrieved from thermal sensorswithin an information handling system. In an example, the temperaturevalues may be associated with different locations within the informationhandling system. At block 406, data from a thermal table is retrieved.In an example, the data or setting within the thermal table may includeuser settings to create a balance between thermals of processor 110 andacoustics of fans 112 and 120. In certain examples, the thermal tablemay include data to correlate a specific fan speed for fans 112 and 120based on a TDP for processor 110. In an example, the thermal table mayinclude a user input to select a user desired tradeoff between thermalcooling of processor 110 and the acoustics generated by fans 112 and120. The thermal table may further include any additional data to beutilized by embedded controller 202 to set fan control signals.

At block 408, a fan control signal for one or more cooling fans in theinformation handling system are generated. In an example, an embeddedcontroller of the information handling system may generate the fancontrol signal for the fans of information handling system based on thedata in the thermal tables. In certain examples, the fan control signalsfor the cooling fans of the information handling system may be providedas PWM signals from the embedded controller to the one or more coolingfans. At block 410, a fan control signal for one or more cooling fans ofa dock of the information handling system may be generated, and the flowends at block 412. In an example, the embedded controller of theinformation handling system may generate the fan control signal for thefans of the dock based on the data in the thermal tables. In certainexamples, the fan control signals for the cooling fans of the dock maybe provided from the embedded controller to a processor of the dock,which in turn may provide the fan control signals as PWM signals to theone or more cooling fans. These fan control signals may set a fan speedof the one or more fans within the dock to provide additional airflow toa processor of the information handling system.

FIG. 5 illustrates a general information handling system 500. Forpurpose of this disclosure information handling system can include anyinstrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute,classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch,store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilizeany form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific,control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, an informationhandling system can be a personal computer, a laptop computer, a smartphone, a tablet device or other consumer electronic device, a networkserver, a network storage device, a switch, a router, or another networkcommunication device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size,shape, performance, functionality, and price.

Information handling system 500 includes a processor 502, a memory 504,a chipset 506, a PCI bus 508, a universal serial bus (USB) controller510, a USB 512, a keyboard device controller 514, a mouse devicecontroller 516, an ATA bus controller 520, an ATA bus 522, a hard drivedevice controller 524, a compact disk read only memory (CD ROM) devicecontroller 526, a video graphics array (VGA) device controller 530, anetwork interface controller (NIC) 540, a wireless local area network(WLAN) controller 550, a serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus 560, aflash memory device 570 for storing UEFI BIOS code 572, and a baseboardmanagement controller (BMC) 580. BMC 580 can be referred to as a serviceprocessor, and embedded controller, and the like. Flash memory device570 can be referred to as a SPI flash device, BIOS non-volatile randomaccess memory (NVRAM), and the like. BMC 580 is configured to provideout-of-band access to devices at information handling system 500. Asused herein, out-of-band access herein refers to operations performedwithout support of CPU 502, such as prior to execution of UEFI BIOS code572 by processor 502 to initialize operation of system 500.

Information handling system 500 can include additional components andadditional busses, not shown for clarity. For example, system 500 caninclude multiple processor cores, audio devices, and the like. While aparticular arrangement of bus technologies and interconnections isillustrated for the purpose of example, one of skill will appreciatethat the techniques disclosed herein are applicable to other systemarchitectures. System 500 can include multiple CPUs and redundant buscontrollers. One ore more components can be integrated together. Forexample, portions of chipset 506 can be integrated within CPU 502. In anembodiment, chipset 506 can include a platform controller hub (PCH).System 500 can include additional buses and bus protocols, for exampleI2C and the like. Additional components of information handling system500 can include one or more storage devices that can storemachine-executable code, one or more communications ports forcommunicating with external devices, and various input and output (I/O)devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display.

For purposes of this disclosure information handling system 500 caninclude any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operableto compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate,switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, orutilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business,scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example,information handling system 500 can be a personal computer, a laptopcomputer, a smart phone, a tablet device or other consumer electronicdevice, a network server, a network storage device, a switch, a router,or another network communication device, or any other suitable deviceand may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price.Further, information handling system 500 can include processingresources for executing machine-executable code, such as CPU 502, aprogrammable logic array (PLA), an embedded device such as aSystem-on-a-Chip (SoC), or other control logic hardware. Informationhandling system 500 can also include one or more computer-readablemedium for storing machine-executable code, such as software or data.

UEFI BIOS code 572 can be referred to as a firmware image, and the termBIOS is herein used interchangeably with the term firmware image, orsimply firmware. In an embodiment, UEFI BIOS 572 can be substantiallycompliant with one or more revisions of the Unified Extensible FirmwareInterface (UEFI) specification. As used herein, the term ExtensibleFirmware Interface (EFI) is used synonymously with the term UEFI. TheUEFI standard replaces the antiquated personal computer BIOS systemfound in some older information handling systems. However, the term BIOSis often still used to refer to the system firmware. The UEFIspecification provides standard interfaces and interoperabilityguidelines for devices that together make up an information handlingsystem. In particular, the UEFI specification provides a standardizedarchitecture and data structures to manage initialization andconfiguration of devices, booting of platform resources, and passing ofcontrol to the OS. The UEFI specification allows for the extension ofplatform firmware by loading UEFI driver and UEFI application images.For example, an original equipment manufacturer can include customizedor proprietary images to provide enhanced control and management of theinformation handling system 500. While the techniques disclosed hereinare described in the context of a UEFI compliant system, one of skillwill appreciate that aspects of the disclosed systems and methods can beimplemented at substantially any information handling system havingconfigurable firmware.

UEFI BIOS code 572 includes instructions executable by CPU 502 toinitialize and test the hardware components of system 500, and to load aboot loader or an operating system (OS) from a mass storage device. UEFIBIOS code 572 additionally provides an abstraction layer for thehardware, i.e. a consistent way for application programs and operatingsystems to interact with the keyboard, display, and other input/outputdevices. When power is first applied to information handling system 500,the system begins a sequence of initialization procedures. During theinitialization sequence, also referred to as a boot sequence, componentsof system 500 are configured and enabled for operation, and devicedrivers can be installed. Device drivers provide an interface throughwhich other components of the system 500 can communicate with acorresponding device.

The storage capacity of SPI flash device 570 is typically limited to 32MB or 54 MB of data. However, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) ofinformation handling systems may desire to provide advanced firmwarecapabilities, resulting in a BIOS image that is too large to fit in SPIflash device 570. Information handling system can include othernon-volatile flash memory devices, in addition to SPI flash device 570.For example, memory 504 can include non-volatile memory devices inaddition to dynamic random access memory devices. Such memory isreferred to herein as non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM)devices. In addition, hard drive 524 can include non-volatile storageelements, referred to as a solid state drive (SSD). For still anotherexample, information handling system 500 can include one or morenon-volatile memory express (NVMe) devices. Techniques disclosed hereinprovide for storing a portion of a BIOS image at one or morenon-volatile memory devices in addition to SPI flash device 570.

Although only a few exemplary embodiments have been described in detailherein, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that manymodifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments withoutmaterially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of theembodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all suchmodifications are intended to be included within the scope of theembodiments of the present disclosure as defined in the followingclaims. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to coverthe structures described herein as performing the recited function andnot only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information handling system comprising: astorage configured to store a thermal table associated with theinformation handling system; and a processor to communicate with thestorage, the processor to: detect that the information handling systemis connected to a dock; in response to the information handling systembeing connected to the dock, provide a dock temperature request to thedock; receive a first temperature value for the dock; receive a secondtemperature value for the information handling system; retrieve thermaltable data from the thermal table; generate a first fan control signalbased on the first and second temperature values and the thermal tabledata; and provide the first fan control signal to the dock.
 2. Theinformation handling system of claim 1, further comprising a powerdelivery port of a universal serial bus type-c connection, wherein thepower delivery port provides communication signals between the processorand the dock.
 3. The information handling system of claim 2, wherein thecommunication signals include the dock temperature request and the firstfan control signal.
 4. The information handling system of claim 1,wherein the processor further to generate a second fan control signalbased on the first and second temperature values and the thermal tabledata.
 5. The information handling system of claim 4, further comprisinga fan controller to communicate with the processor, the fan controllerto set a fan speed for a cooling fan based on the second fan controlsignal.
 6. The information handling system of claim 4, wherein a firstfan speed of a first cooling fan in the dock is set based the first fancontrol signal, and a second fan speed of a second cooling fan in theinformation handling system is set based on the second fan controlsignal.
 7. The information handling system of claim 6, wherein the firstfan speed of the first cooling fan and the second fan speed of thesecond cooling fan combine to provide a total amount of cooling neededbased on a thermal design power of the information handling system. 8.The information handling system of claim 1, wherein the processor is anembedded controller of the information handling system.
 9. A methodcomprising: detecting, by a processor of an information handling system,that the information handling system is connected to a dock; in responseto the information handling system being connected to the dock,providing a dock temperature request to the dock; receiving a firsttemperature value for the dock; receiving a second temperature value forthe information handling system; retrieving thermal table data;generating a first fan control signal based on the first and secondtemperature values and the thermal table data; and providing the firstfan control signal to the dock.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising generating a second fan control signal based on the first andsecond temperature values and the thermal table data.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising based on the second fan control signal,setting a fan speed for a cooling fan of the information handlingsystem.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein a first fan speed of a firstcooling fan in the dock is set based the first fan control signal, and asecond fan speed of a second cooling fan in the information handlingsystem is set based on the second fan control signal.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the first fan speed of the first cooling fan and thesecond fan speed of the second cooling fan combine to provide a totalamount of cooling needed based on a thermal design power of theinformation handling system.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein theproviding of the dock temperature request is provided via a powerdelivery port of a universal serial bus type-c connection.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the communication signals include the docktemperature request and the first fan control signal.
 16. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the processor is an embedded controller of theinformation handling system.
 17. A method comprising: if an informationhandling system is connected to a dock, then receiving a firsttemperature value from the dock and receiving a second value from athermal sensor of the information handling system; retrieving thermaltable data from the thermal table; generating a first fan control signalbased on the first and second temperature values and the thermal tabledata; providing the first fan control signal to the dock via a vendordefined message, wherein a first fan speed for a first cooling fan ofthe dock is set based on the first fan control signal; generating asecond fan control signal based on the first and second temperaturevalues and the thermal table data; and based on the second fan controlsignal setting, by a processor, a second fan speed for a second coolingfan of the information handling system.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein the first fan speed of the first cooling fan and the second fanspeed of the second cooling fan combine to provide a total amount ofcooling needed based on a thermal design power of the informationhandling system.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein a dock temperaturerequest is provided to the dock via a power delivery port of a universalserial bus type-c connection.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein thecommunication signals include the dock temperature request and the firstfan control signal.